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My baby Isa is 11 weeks, 5 days, 12 lbs 5 oz and 23 5/8 inches long. 75th percentile. Except for her big head, which is 15 7/8 ‘ and in the 90th percentile!! She did good with her shots, didn’t cry as much as I expected. I think she hated being held down more than the shots. I took a before during, and after shot, and I think they are so cute! BeforeDuring

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Friday, Chris’s Aunt Susie and Grandpa Klunk came to visit! They brought with them some wonderful presents and it was so much fun visiting! Isabela really was entranced by Grandpa’s loud and deep voice! We had a great visit!

My older sister, Auntie Angie is here visiting for a while! Isabela loves to laugh and smile with her! Its so nice to have my sister here with me for a while!

Also, Isabela has been spending time in her bumbo seat lately. She doesn’t always love it, but she’s getting there!

Next week, Isabela gets her two month shots. She will be almost 3 months then, but oh well! I’m nervous about that day. I hate seeing my little beli girl cry!

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I have often heard of people speaking about bad karma , good karma, etc. I really haven’t experienced any sort of karma…at least not in yo face karma! Haha.

Okay, so this morning I had to go to Target and decided to drop into Chick-Fillet. (Our Target is in the mall). Anyhow, they were pretty busy, and they only had one cashier. The cashier was actually one of Chris’s recruits, and he is a really sweet young man. (His name is also Chris)

So, the person in front of me ordered and moved to the side. Chris was busy getting the persons order ready, and I was waiting patiently. An older man and his pre-teen looking daughter walked over and stood to the right of me. Immediately, I knew this man would break in front of me. I don’t know how I know these things, but I have a little radar about stuff like this. The guy looked at me (because I was staring at him), and said to his daughter, “Let’s move over here.” Then they moved to the left of me.

SO, Chris was still busy getting the other person’s order ready, and I was standing about 2 feet from the counter. Normally, at this point I would crowd the counter, thus preventing anyone from breaking in front of me. I usually do something like that in stores or banks, but at food places, I generally don’t step right up to the counter until the person is ready to take the order.I’m not sure why I wait, but I worked in the food business and I always appreciated it when people gave the impression of patiently waiting.

So, just as Chris the cashier stepped up to the counter and just as I was about to take one step forward, the old guy broke in front of me!! And, as he did this, he pretended it was because he was looking at the menu on the counter!

So, even though I knew this would happen if I didn’t prevent it, I was still pretty pissed off. And, the normal Alicia would have tapped that guy on the shoulder and said, “excuse me, I was actually next in line. I don’t know if you didn’t see me, but I was waiting and I am next in line to order.”I would have said that if I thought the guy unintentionally broke in front of me. But since I knew he did it purposefully, the normal Alicia would have said something like,” excuse me, I was actually next in line. I know that you saw me because you looked right at me. and I don’t appreciate you intentionally breaking in front of me. That is rude and and if you don’t appreciate me telling you this, maybe next time you should wait your turn!”

Yes, I am a nice person, shy even, but never timid. And that is what I would have normally done. Instead, I kept my big mouth shut! I couldn’t believe how well I was restraining myself. I really wanted to give the guy a piece of my mind, but something was telling me to see how this played out.

So, I finally order and make small talk with Chris. Him and his family lost everything in Hurricane Katrina and made the move to Iowa. They are such a hardworking and sweet family, from what Chris (my husband) says. Chris the cashier is a junior in high school, and has joined the Air Force. He is always very polite when I see him and has a very genuine smile. I love genuine smiles!

As I am waiting, I look at this man and his daughter. By now his wife has joined him. They are all standing there, not speaking to each other, and actually looking like they are all pretty unhappy. As I am analyzing them, I see Chris look at me, and see that he is walking over to give me my order! First!

Ha. HA HAHAHA!!

Very nicely, I tell him thanks and then glance over at that guy. He is looking at me with a mean expression at his face. I wanted to laugh in his face and say, “hahaha. that’s what you get for breaking in front of me!” Instead, I just keep smiling and walk away.

As I walk away, I think how funny it was that I got broken in front of and still got my order first. Then I started wondering why this guy broke in front of me. The guy was hugely overweight, so maybe he was just hungry? Maybe he was just rude, in general? Maybe he was in a hurry??Maybe he was racist? (He was white, and I’ve had many racist occasions in Iowa City). Maybe it was a combination of all the above – who really knows.

All I know is that it was very funny to me – the fact he broke in front of me in a hurry to get his food, and I still got mine first. HA hah.

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Do we ever think about how wasteful we really are? By saying we, I am talking about Americans.

In this great country, so many people are living wasteful lives, including myself.

Yes, I try not to be wasteful….I clean out my closet and donate to Goodwill. Yet, I seem to replace everything I get rid of with new things. I buy many things for myself that I really do not need. And then, when an opportunity comes to do something totally selfless, it seems that I can’t afford it. Actually, I should say that I do not want to afford it, most of the time.

Even food is wasted, not just in my home, but in yours too! That is one of the first things that my dad said is wife noticed about America – there is so much food! Of course, look around and you will see that American’s over consumption of food is evident in the waistline of the majority of people around you.

Money is definitely wasted. Did I really need a cashmere sweater I recently splurged on? Or the 2 pairs of shoes I bought? The money I spent on those items could have been used to help someone else. It could have been used to better the life of someone else.

I’m not saying its wrong to splurge every now and then. But I feel like most of us have so many “things” in our life to the point that having new and better “things” consume us. There was a time in my life where I was more aware of how much waste I was creating in my life. I’ve slipped a little…well, a lot.

I realize this isn’t an important issue for most people, but this is something that is very important to me. Its actually something that I challenged myself a while ago to fight against. (for myself).

Don’t we all want a better world for our children? Don’t we all want to say that we have made an impact in someone elses life? When I think about the past 2 years in Iowa City, I am ashamed to say that I feel like I have made NO mark whatsoever. I have done absolutely nothing , in my opinion, but be concerned about myself.

I really want to change that. When I am gone, I want my children and grandchildren to see the impression that I have left behind. And, I want that impression to be one of kindness, love, generosity, and selflessness.

So, maybe you don’t see the connection, but to me, living a simple life is what I feel I NEED to do to be able to give to others. I actually feel bogged down, suffocated, and burdened when I feel waste began to accumulate in my life.

Lately, the waste I have brought into my life has been tangible and intangible. And, I’ve invited it in without hesitation.

Let me say that I am a thinker. I’ve actually spent a couple of weeks thinking about this. That’s just how I work. I have to let my thoughts marinate for a while (: I am also a serious prayer. I believe in the POWER of prayer. So, I’ve prayed and waited.

And what God revealed to me today is a picture of myself that is not pretty. In fact, its ugly – horrible, even.

I have felt for a long time that God has really called me to live simply. I have felt that God has given me a spirit for giving and encouragement, and sometimes that giving involves giving financially to others.

I really can’t do this if I am living wastefully and carelessly.

And, you know, every time I think that I am living quite simply, God shows me ways I can cut back even more. Minimize to maximize. Its definitely very hard, but I believe that is what I am supposed to do.

And for someone like me, who really enjoys the finer things in life, its quite hard to do and very easy to fall off track.

But I am really challenging myself to stay on the tracks, to walk down this road and see where it leads me one day. I want Isabela to really see this world that we live in and be grateful for it. I want her to respect our earth and see the value in living fruitfully. I want her to take care of her body and to respect it. I want her to be happy to give. I want her to see pain and suffering and to know compassion. I want her to realize that there are others who are less fortunate, who live in countries where they are not FREE and where food and water are scarce and have a fire in her heart to do something about it. Mostly, I want her to have a love in her heart for everyone, because God truly is love.

There is so much more of course, but the point is that if I don’t stay consistent in the path God has chosen for me, how can I really teach her these things? How can I leave a mark in other’s hearts? How can I give to others when I have squandered every blessing in my life? How can I have compassion for those who have less, when all I want is more?

Man….I can go so much deeper…..but I will keep all the rest of my thoughts to myself.